1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to furnace equipment for use in petrochemical plants, and more particularly, to improved centrifugally-cast tubes for use in such equipment and a method and apparatus of making such tubes.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known that there are two basic types of furnaces used in petrochemical plants, one being “steam cracker” furnaces, and the other being “steam reformer” furnaces. Steam cracker furnaces are mainly used to make ethylene, and steam reformer furnaces are mainly used to make hydrogen. Both types of furnaces include a number of tubes, generally arranged vertically, that form a continuous flow path, or coil, through the furnace. The flow path or coil includes an inlet and an outlet. In both types of furnaces, a mixture of a hydrocarbon feedstock and steam are fed into the inlet and passed through the tubes. The tubes are exposed to extreme heat generated by burners within the furnace. As the feedstock/steam mixture is passed through the tubes at high temperatures the mixture is gradually broken down such that the resulting product exiting the outlet is ethylene in the case of a steam cracker furnace and hydrogen in the case of a steam reformer furnace.
The petrochemical industry has in the past recognized at least three desirable features in a steam cracker or steam reformer furnace. First, it is important to maximize the heat transfer rate from the furnace burners through the walls of the tubes and into the mixture of hydrocarbons and steam in order to increase the efficiency of the furnace. Second, it is important to make furnace tubes from materials that are resistant to what is known in the metallurgical arts as “creep”. Third, it is important to make furnace tubes so as to be resistant to corrosion, carburization and metal dusting.
With regard to the second important feature, “creep” is basically the gradual elongation of a metal when placed under stress and subjected to high temperatures. Various creep-resistant alloys are known to those of skill in the art. Two main methods have developed within the industry of making furnace tubes with creep-resistant alloys, one being to extrude the tube, and the other being to centrifugally cast the tube. A centrifugally-cast tube is one formed by pouring an alloy in liquid form into a tubular mold that is rotating at a high speed. The alloy is allowed to cool so as to form the centrifugally-cast tube. The internal bore of the tube is then mechanically-machined by boring to achieve the desired inner diameter, resulting in a cylindrical tube having a circular cross section with a generally constant inner and outer diameter. The industry has discovered, however, that centrifugally-cast tubes exhibit superior creep properties in comparison to extruded tubes. In particular, upon inspecting cross-sections of extruded and centrifugally-cast tubes, the industry has discovered that extruded tubes have a very fine grain metallurgical structure, whereas centrifugally-cast tubes have much larger, and columnar, grains. Further, extruded tubes have a lower carbon content when compared to the carbon content of centrifugally-cast tubes. The larger, columnar grains and higher carbon content are what give the centrifugally-cast tubes superior creep properties in comparison to the fine grain microstructure and lower carbon content of extruded tubes.
One approach to achieving two of the above-identified objectives is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,340 (“the '340 patent”). In particular, the '340 patent discloses a method of modifying a centrifugally-cast tube by adding a series of longitudinally-disposed fins and valleys in the typically-circular internal bore of the tube. In this manner, the internal surface area of the tube is increased, thereby increasing the heat-transfer rate therethrough. As such, the '340 patent results in a tube that is resistant to creep (since it is centrifugally cast from a creep-resistant alloy) and has an increased heat transfer rate (by virtue of its modified internal profile). A key drawback to the tube disclosed in the '340 patent, however, is that it is not resistant to corrosion, carburization or metal dusting. This is because the tube in the '340 patent is made using an electrochemical machining (ECM) method, as opposed to a mechanical machining process (e.g., the boring process traditionally used to provide the desired diameter in a centrifugally-cast tube). As is known in the art, use of the ECM method results in an electropolished surface and does not provide adequate deformation and/or orientation of the subsurface or material lattice of the inner surface of the tube. In this regard, it is well known that an electropolished surface is not resistant to corrosion, carburization or metal dusting. See, e.g., MATERIALS AND CORROSION, Carburization, Metal Dusting and Carbon Deposition, ISSN 0947-5117, Vol. 49, No. 4/5, April/May 1998, pp. 221-225 and 328-335. These articles compare the effect of machining or any other surface deformation (e.g., grinding, blasting, peening, honing, etc.) to electropolishing and clearly show the advantage of conventional machining over electropolishing on resistance to carburization and metal dusting. An additional drawback to the ECM process is that it results in a tube having an interior surface with an inferior surface roughness and dimensional accuracy when compared to the interior surface that has been prepared by mechanical machining. A still further drawback to the ECM process is that it is more expensive relative to the cost of mechanical machining.
As such, there remains a need in the art for a centrifugally-cast tube, and method and apparatus of making same, that (1) has an increased heat-transfer rate, (2) is resistant to creep, (3) is resistant to corrosion, carburization and metal dusting, (4) has a desirable surface roughness and dimensional accuracy, and (5) is cost-efficient. The present invention has been developed to overcome the foregoing deficiencies and meet the above-described needs.